I am not an addict, but I'm the daughter of a recovering alcoholic. We are both disciples, but it was only when she studied the Bible that I learned that my mother is an alcoholic. I thought her behavior was normal, since everyone in my family had her drinking habits. I thought that, in due time, I would start drinking heavily too. This was just a part of adulthood, even the drunken driving.

I was about 13 years old when I started experimenting with drugs which led to my addiction. Due to my addiction, I did things I thought I would never do and did not want to do. One of them was stealing from my family and friends. Lying and stealing became part of my character and led me into isolation from friends and family. Eventually I became homeless and a derelict, begging in the city streets to support my addiction to crack.

I was 40 years old when I was baptized into Christ and that was 4+ years ago. Little did I know that it was a journey into recovery that God had planned for me.I was a recovering drug user in that, I was no longer using drugs. I had used drugs from high school until about 10 years ago. I used mainly speed via needles. I used lots of other drugs as well. Man I was in a dark pit. I used drugs and I wound up on the streets, selling my body, doing things that just really were detestable before God. I could not even see how sick my life was. I knew that I did not want to continue living in such "filth" and wanted it to change. So I did stop using, but my heart was still far from God.

I was a Christian for nine years before I even thought I might be an alcoholic. I knew that I had abused drugs and alcohol before I was a Christian but I had stopped when my life began falling apart and I began to study the Bible, seeking a better life with God. I had never known anyone from CR because there wasn't one in my church.